FOR the Yankees, the DL has become the Daily List. The only surprise is Brian Cashman has not come down with roster-itis considering all the player shuffling he has had to undertake. The Columbus Shuttle is thriving.

The Yanks’ another-day, another-malady spurt is enough to make their fans sick with worry. If it makes you feel better, the Yanks have not cornered the market on grief. In fact, they are not even the playoff team from last year in the worst shape. Not even close. Three of last season’s eight postseason clubs are under .500 and, among the six first-place clubs from 2005, only the Yanks and Cardinals are in first place today.

But the Cards’ tale of woe could be upon us. Albert Pujols’ likely very long DL stint has just begun, and Pujols had been serving as human Wite-Out for so many other St. Louis inadequacies. Yet the Cards may be the 2005 playoff team most bulletproof this season because of an otherwise timid NL Central. With one-third of the season now over, the Tuesday Morning Shortstop sees four 2005 postseason clubs who are particularly vulnerable right now:

ASTROS – How sweet the irony. Roger Clemens’ camp faked as if playoff contention was a central factor in his decision. But Houston lost its first five games after Clemens announced his return, and has lost 24 of 30 overall. Houston has many problems, but having Clemens’ lavish contract on the books now makes it even harder to address them. There actually already is talk that if poor play continues, perhaps Clemens would want to be traded to the Yanks, Red Sox or Rangers. Keep in mind Houston was horrible early the past two years, but rallied to win the wild card. But for that to happen this year, Roy Oswalt’s back spasms need to be a temporary issue, Andy Pettitte and Brad Lidge must recover from being dreadful, somebody on offense beyond Lance Berkman, Craig Biggio and Morgan Ensberg must perk up, and Clemens must continue to defy age.

BRAVES – We know, we know, never count out Atlanta. But the Braves were just swept in a four-game series (by Arizona) for the first time since 1995. They are 6-1 against the Marlins, 22-29 vs. everyone else. The Mets’ dynamic duo of Pedro Martinez/Tom Glavine was outpitching John Smoltz/Tim Hudson, and as bad as you might think the back end of the Met rotation is, Atlanta’s is worse. But the biggest problem is in the pen. Atlanta already has used 14 relievers, including recently recalled Met reject Tyler Yates, to amass an NL-high 12 blown saves. Braves GM John Schuerholz said, “We can’t stick our heads in the sand. We have to get better (in the pen). Because we believe the rest of the team is good enough to win.”

PADRES – San Diego has a strong defense and a no-name but effective set-up crew in front of Trevor Hoffman. But the Padres have two huge factors working against them: 1) Petco Park’s huge dimensions seem to be in their head. San Diego was one of two teams with a winning overall record, but a losing mark at home. 2) The Dodgers and Diamondbacks already are enjoying the bounty of deep farm systems, an advantage that should keep giving more and more as the season goes along. Only the Yanks have an older average age on their roster than San Diego, which does not have as deep a system to use as fortification.

ANGELS – They might be rebounding. They have won eight of 12, and last night they started a 13-game run against all three AL last-place teams, though they did it with a 4-0 loss to Tampa. The surge coincides with the promotion of Kendry Morales and Jered Weaver after others from their touted system – Howie Kendrick, Casey Kotchman and Jeff Mathis – tanked earlier in the year. Bartolo Colon (shoulder) is due back next week. Still, the roster is brittle. The offense remains Vladimir Guerrero and a bunch of players who do not belong in this sentence with him.